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2013-06-28 - Hell Hath No Fury: On Family
The group that likely assembles in the Common Room is probably exhausted. For Starfire, just getting out of the medbay, it is a mixture of emotional and physical exhaustion after having checked on Speedy, who is still unconscious from Cheshire's attack. now and sitting, she closes her eyes, her glow heavily dimmed. Roy did not...take it well. First was the shock, Kon got to witness that as he was the one that flew Roy upstairs instead of making him run it and saw Cheshire teleport away. And honestly, Roy hopes Kon never repeats what he saw afterwards. After all, heroes don't cry, right? Still, after getting through the first emotional hurdle, he went into emotional wreak when he saw how hurt Speedy was, having Kon rush her to the medical bay, calling in Cyborg and whatever other favors he could to get medical treatment there for Wonder Girl, Speedy, and Starfire, and trying to use his contacts to track down Cheshire. He hasn't really talked to anyone yet about what happened, just...looking shattered in his half destoryed quarters if anyone looked in and...working. When he joins the others in the Common Room however, Roy's face is beyond serious and even...hard, unapproachable. His mouth is pressed into a thin line. Starfire lets out a quiet sigh, and glances over at Roy. Her own presence is osft, and finally Starfire breaks her silence then, and she spekas her words. Her own sense of fatigue trying to fade against her trying ot press away and twist ot the sharpness, "We will get her back. And we will not let anyone harm her." Cassie for once is grim and unsmiling, staring though the windows out to the bay. She hasn't cleaned up after the fight and so she is still smudged and dirty from the battle. "I was right there." she mutters to herself. "I don't underand." Robin joins the group, looking upset and tense as well. He was on radio silence, so he missed all that happened. And when he found out, he flew out to San Francisco imediately. He looks around at the group, not saying anything, but his sense of guilt for not being there for his friends obviously showing on his face. Superboy's been in damage control mode. He's been rushing this way and that, helping this person and that person, all the while ignoring the angry red of the palm of his hands. Others are hurt more, physically or otherwise, he can deal. He has more ice in his drink than normal for him as he emerges from the kitchen, however, and takes up a spot near Cassie. "So was I," he says. "She came prepared, simple as that. It's not impossible to be ready for people like us," he says, looking to the others, first Cassie, then Star, and finally Roy. Starfire gives a silent nod over at Kon-El, "We cannot be ready for everything." They are not all Batman. nor perhaps do all of them wish to be. She closes her eyes, "We wil lfind her Roy. And we know that Cheshire will not harm her." Even Cheshire has her limits. Jade will not do anything to risk her daughter. Starfire prays to X'hal. Cassie rubs her eyes as Kon breaks her reverie. "What good am I, then?" and she clenches her fists. "I'm stronger than you, faster than you... and she's doesn't even have powers! I'm supposed to have abilities like a god... my father _is_ a god! I can't even protect a little girl from someone with no powers? Just someone who's spent a lot of time in the gym? What's the point of what we do, then?" She shakes her head. "She came in _our_ base, with all the best security money can buy and we have _how_ many people here? A Kryptonian, a half-Kryptonian, me, a warrior princess, three people who are at least as good as Jade, and everyone else.. and we can't protect a little girl?" Robin takes a deep breath, steadying himself. He walks over to Roy, a concerned look on his face. "Anything you need. Information, hacking, transport, gear...just say the word. We'll get her back for you, Roy." But no matter how much he can offer to help, Robin feels like it's not enough to make things right. "No," Roy finally says. "Speedy still...she's still comatose. She could end up scarred but...well, I called Dr. Midnight. I screwed up. I lost track of Cheshire, didn't want a fight at Lian's birthday party....I'll handle it. You guys got...enough damage control, the Titans Tower, the bomb threats might not be over either. You are needed in San Francisco." Roy was solo for years, and apparently is planning to do it again. Roy takes a deep breath, "Thank you, all of you. For your hard work...your sacerfices. And...I'm sorry." Roy shakes his head, "What could you do? She trained as a one-man army, she defeated the original Titans crew before and almost caused the Cold War to re-ignite. This was solo, and she still limped away. She had an entire crew with her this time." Roy shakes his head at Robin. Starfire shakes her head at Roy, "Roy, we will not let you." Go after cheshire alone. Starfire has to guess that's what Arsenal is thinking. "THe rest of us will be going along with you. We will all go to save and protect her." No matter the cost. Lian is family to them all. "Lex Luthor," Superboy says simply to Cassie. "And he's not even in that great of shape." He frowns, looking somewhat guilty for what the last time Lex entered his life meant. "And no, Roy. You are family, Lian is family. You are /not/ facing this alone. I don't let Robin pull that crap, and I'm certainly not letting you pull it against someone who nuked a country to prove a point." "No. No, why we failed is because we showed her mercy." Cassie says. "She doesn't have any mercy for anyone else. It's time to stop playing around." and she rises. "It's time to stop worrying about hurting her or killing her. If she's going to come in to our home and attack us and steal part of our family... well, I'm sick of it." "We're all sick of it, Cassie," Robin says as he walks towards the demigoddess. "But we can't retaliate like that. Cheshire and villains like her are the ones that kill and main, not us. We have to be above that, becasue I've seen what happens when you start going down that path. Justifying killing isn't what we do, no matter what someone has done." "To...get money and fear to get Lian back." Arsenal shakes his head, "She will /kill/ you guys, I...I screwed up, and I don't want you guys suffering for my bad decisions. I just...I don't want to lose another one of you, not again, not like Donna. You guys are my family too, but...Cheshire makes this damn personal." He isn't calling her Jade. She hurt Speedy beyond bad, hurt a lot of his friends and family...he isn't calling her Jade right now! Roy looks his age...na, in reality he looks older than his age right now and very tired. "Cassie, you aren't walking down that path!" Roy suddenly sounds vehemant! "You are still young, you got your entire life ahead of you. That..that is /not/ something you want to carry with you your entire life. /Believe/ me, there is a part of you that will never be the same. /You/ wouldn't be the same person afterwards. Do you really want to ruin your life over Cheshire?" Starfire finally sits up, "If it needs donig, then I will do it." She is willing to kill when necessary, an she will not hold herself back from doing so if there is no other choice. "But ultimately, the decision is Roy's. He is Lian's father. So whether he believes that we should or we should not is ultimately his decision." In starfire's mind, an eye for an eye is fitting, but it is ultimately not her decision. If it were.. "Cass," Superboy says, standing up and putting those raw, burned hands on hers, he looks to the others, and then turns back to her. "She's still Lian's mother," he says, gently. "She... really needs a better outlet, but... I can't kill someone for wanting to spend time with their kid, regardless of how they go about it." "I might live forever, Roy." Cassie says. "But at this point I am going to spend all that time regretting what's happend to Speedy." She sighs. "We are are we still here? I could be looking everywhere at top speed. Kara too, and Conner, and Wally... there's no reason we can't have her in an hour if we just go. So... let's go do it." "She'll have already thought of that, Cassie," Robin says. Even if he's advocating patience, the Teen Wonder looks distressed and anxious. "She'll be hinding in a way that makes her unoticable to tactics like that. The only thing we can do right now is track her down using friends like Oracle. Cheshire can'te hide forever, and we'll be ready to nail her when we find her." "Speedy will be alright," Superboy assures, squeezing Cassie's hands, giving only the slightest wince of pain. "Whatever Cheshire was using, someone will figure out a way to beat it, and, after what just happened, the last thing we need to do is to send all our heavy hitters out alone to search. If you got hit with that stuff again? Or something worse?" He pulls Cassie close, giving a small shudder. Starfire nods over at Kon lightly, "She will likely have Lian in a bolthole, but she will be there personally." Kory closes her eyes, thinking. "And she will likely have allies on hand in case we locate her quickly andstrike quickly. It iwll likely be cut off from electronic access and shielded against senses." So they should look for a dead zone. "Had Checkmate and S.H.I.E.L.D. searching for her for almost half a year, couldn't find her. This...is not going to be easy." A pause, then, "Alright, get Oracle on it Robin. I'll...I have a few more contacts I can call, and I might stop at Cheshire's home in China when she had Lian, see if I turn up anything. I don't think she has been there for years thought...not since her arrest at the very least." Cassie hugs Kon a moment, then releases him. "Whatever, then. You all play around with your computers and stuff. I'm going to go to Themyscira for a while to think... and maybe to hit things. I'm no use here, that's obvious." she says bitterly. "When you want me to do something, send Kara after me." Robin nods to Roy. "Consider her on the case." He gets a thoughtful look, trying to work his mind around the puzzle at hand. "Roy, is there a chance we could draw her out? Maybe by taking down her connections and support network? Or if we dangle something in front of her that she wants almost as much as Lian?" "Cheshire...doesn't have emotional connections Robin, to anyone except me and Lian. And right now..she wants me dead. I guess I could make one hell of a big scene and announcement, daring her to come get me, to kill me." Roy makes a bit of a face at that. "It would get...messy to say the least that route. But it may be what needs done." It was what he was originally planning to do /alone/. But he doesn't have the energy to agrue with everyone..though he still might try to sneak away until someone knocks some sense into him. Kon looks pained when Cassie announces her plans. Kara being the one she wants sent after her doesn't exactly help his mood. "And leave Lian an orphan, great plan," he says to Roy. "We don't need to be killing /anyone/ let alone ourselves." He looks to Cassie, giving her a somewhat pleading look. Robin shakes his head. "I wasn't talking about emotional connections, Roy." He starts pacing around the Common Room. "I mean financial resources. Criminal contacts. The things she needs to survive as an assassin. We track down her bank accounts and wipe them out. We hit every crminal and fixer she's ever worked with and put the hurt on them, saying we'll be back if they ever work with Cheshire again." Robin suddenly stops, an idea having struck him. "We could even ruin her rep by faking one of her assassinations actually being alive. Make it look like she double-crossed her employer and took the money." He looks over at Roy for confirmation. "I think that would get her attention more than anything else, wouldn't it?" Starfire glances over at ROy, andg ives a half nod, "HEr reputation is most precious to her. And such a fakeout would no doubt enrage her and serve to draw her out into the open before she can go totally undergrond with Lian and off the radar." "You don't think she has enough?" Roy sighs, "Then again, she burns through money as quickly as she gets it a lot of times." He rubs the back of his neck. "Reputation...ya...that would do it. Perhaps fake her getting arrested, a big publicity stunt, it could draw her out maybe. I know this be awkward, but any chance J'onn be willing to shift into a woman - if he can - and pose as her willing to make a public apology?" Roy makes a face at that. "Ugh, that could be awkard." He then looks over at Cassie, "Any chance any of the Amazons on the island look like Cheshire?" A pause..., "Never mind, why the hell would Greeks look Asian?" "I am gonna mash her into a paste." Cassie says. She sighs and looks at Kon. "I just really need to be doing something and we're being told to wait for Oracle, which makes no sense. So... I'll be around." but she drifts off the floor. "You all try to stay sane." Starfire takes a moment to think, and then nods over "I will go with her." The Tamaranean Princess is much the same way. SHe hates being idle. Even when she knows all there is to do is wait, sh will not. "Let's work with what we have, Roy," Robin says. "I'm sure J'onn would help us but..." He looks over at Cassie and Kori. "Cheshire attacked our family. We should keep this as in-house as possible." He looks back at the team's leader. "I'm sure there's a target of hers one of us could impersonate." There's a pause before RObin finishes with, "Probably someone that I could impersonate. I've got the most undercover experience, after all." "Just... stay in touch, alright?" Superboy says, giving Cassie's hand a squeeze, and she'll definitely be able to feel the result of his grabbing hold of the Pyrokinetic earlier. He looks to Robin. "Why fake being the target when we can fake being the client?" "Client for what? And Cheshire's smart, psychoic...but smart. I don't want you out there defenseless. Cheshire cheats enough to give Lady Shiva hell I would assume." Maybe, maybe not, but Roy fears it. "I'll...make some phone calls and see what I come up with." Starfire glances over behind as she departs wtih Cassie, "We will be in contact. And I trust friend Robin to be able to run her down." "She'd research a job, Kon." RObin explains. "There's the chance she would turn it down. A direct attack on her rep though...that can't be ignored or let go." "Even if she sees a set-up a mile away, if the slander is bad enough...I'd think she would come anyway," Roy confesses. "But..I'll be back. I just....got to think about all of this, and go see Speedy. I have to see...I have to go see Mia." He then turns to take his leave, to head to the medbay to see his 'little sister'. "Well, last I check, she doesn't sell cars," Superboy says. "And a client she'd almost expect to be shadowy and secretive, right? Use the contract to point her back at us somehow?" He shrugs. "I mean, we can attack her rep, but that's bound to generate a rather unpredictable reaction, we don't know when or where she'd come at us. If we're the one 'paying' her, we can be sure at least where she's gonna end up." "It's almost 6 of one, half dozen of another," Robin says to Kon. "But I think we've got the start of a plan. Right now, we're tired, we're frustrated. We're hurt. Let's discuss it in the morning after we get some rest and our heads are clearer." He looks right at Arsenal. "That means you too, Roy. You're not going to be any good to Lian if you burn yourself out or go off without a plan." Cassie starts to go, but she flashes back to Kon's side to try to kiss him full on the lips. "Stay safe, you." and then she lets him go. A look to Kory. "Want to go?" Presumably she agrees, and so Cassie zooms out. Starfire nods over at KOry, glancing over at Kon with a 'make sure Roy doens't do something Roy'ish' look, and then flies along wtih Cassie. "Ya, ya...after...I see Speedy, and some phone calls." Roy won't be sleeping tonight, not without nightmares and feeling unsafe and beyond worried about Lian. He is then out into the hallway and heading for the elevator. Robin watches Roy head into the elevator, the corner of his mouth curled in a frown. He turns to Kon and sighs. "You keep an eye on Kori and Cassie. I'll keep watch over Roy." He smirks and chuckles. "Who'd have ever guessed that you and I would be the level headed ones on the team at a time like this?" "At a time like this? It's hard to keep a level head," Superboy says, and looks after Cassie and Kori, who will have no problem out-pacing him if they don't wanna be followed.